On the response of two commercially-important CFRP structures to multiple ice impacts

Carbon-fibre reinforced composites (CFRPs) are likely to feature heavily as structural elements of future aerospace vehicles due to their high stiffness and low densities. However, such components are likely to be subjected to a variety of impact-related events during their in-service lives. One area which has only received limited attention in the literature is that of ice impact on CFRP structures; e.g. hail stone impacts on aerospace components. In this study the response of two aerospace-grade CFRP structures (one woven and one uni-directional lay-up) to multiple ice impacts with cumulative impact energies in the range 72–1215 J was investigated. Six empirical damage categories were identified, ranging from no apparent surface damage (Type 1) to penetration accompanied by complete lay-up disruption (Type 6). Surface damage was found to correlate with changes in recovered panel properties; determined by ultrasonic C-Scan and compression-after-impact strength tests. With both CFRP structures sub-surface disruption and residual compressive strength varied linearly with total impact energy; suggesting that damage in such structures is cumulative in nature. Further, in line with previous studies, the woven structure consistently exhibited lower levels of damage at a given impact energy, even when damage extent was normalised by areal density.